Star Fox
Star Fox A short story by Blazey Written for Patch's contest Blurb On the first day of spring, the League appeared at Fourtrees. No one knows who they are or where they came from. They remained silent and reclusive, sitting at the base of the four oaks. The bravest Clan cats approached and saw beautiful cats with terrible eyes full of dark power. They fled and no one approached the League until one day, they spoke as one and announced themselves as saviors. In a time where WindClan is dying, RiverClan is in isolation, ThunderClan is crumbling under a greencough epidemic, and ShadowClan has split into two warring factions, cats are desperate. They asked the League for help and the League complied... on the condition that the Clan cats would offer an extraordinarily odd payment in return. Allegiances ThunderClan Leader: '''Dapplestar- pale grey she-cat with darker '''flecks and amber eyes. Deputy: '''Ambertooth- ginger '''tabby tom with green eyes and distinctive jagged teeth. Medicine Cats: '''Elmtail- brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes. Wolftail- silver she-cat with a white-tipped tail, '''paws, white underbelly and muzzle. Shrewclaw- silver-and-black tom with with brown eyes. Sick Cats: Leopardfur- golden-brown tabby she-cat with green eyes. Applepaw- brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes. Mistflash- pale grey she-cat with blue eyes. Yellowleaf- ginger tabby she-cat with amber eyes. Mousewhisker- seal point she-cat with blue eyes. Spottedtail- silver-and-white she-cat. Skypaw- small, black-and-ginger she-cat with green eyes. Blackkit- black tomkit with green eyes. Silverkit- black-and-silver she-kit with green eyes. Warriors: Fawnswift- longhaired, silver tabby she-cat with blue eyes. Snowbreeze- white tom with blue eyes, deaf. Hollymist- black-and-white she-cat. WindClan Leader: 'Harestar- brown-and-white tom with green eyes. '''Deputy: '''Smallfur- short black tom with yellow eyes. '''Warriors: ' Rainfoot- grey tom with one white paw. Oaktail- '''brown tom with green eyes. Queens: Flowertail- golden-brown tabby she-cat with hazel-green eyes and a feathery tail. Expecting Rainfoot's kits. ShadowClan West Faction Leader: Brightstrike- t'hickset ginger-and-w'h'it'e she-cat with green eyes, f'ormer deputy in Sn'a'kestar's '''d'ays. '''Suspected Deputy: '''Stormheart- grey tabby tom with amber eyes. Names of the West Faction members are kept secret from outsiders. East Faction '''Leader: '''Snakestar- lanky and wiry black tom with green eyes '''Deputy: '''Nightshine- black-and-white she-cat with amber eyes. Names of East Faction members are kept '''secret from outsiders. RiverClan Nothing is known about the current members of RiverClan. '''Last known leader: '''Shellstar- tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes. '''Last known deputy: '''Troutfur- gray-and-white tom with green eyes. The League Theorized to be run in a pack-like structure. Arranged by suspected rankings. River Wolf- very beautiful silver she-cat with long fur and dark blue eyes. Forest Hawk- thickset brown tabby tom with almond-shaped green eyes. Snow Bear- white tom with short fur and amber eyes. Desert Fawn- cream-colored she-cat with a short tail and blue eyes. Sleet Badger- black-and-silver tom with blue eyes. Mountain Fish- grey tom with yellow eyes. Sky Lizard- tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes. Marsh Snake- brown-and-white tom. Moor Hare- light brown tabby tom Star Fox- referenced by other members, rarely seen, conflicting reports... suspected to be a ginger tabby female. I. " I'm sorry," the silver-and-black tom whispers, brown eyes dull with sorrow. " We tried our best." His words, flat and empty, are bogged down by the air that has become fat with sickness. The words hover near the listening she-cat's silver ears. As they tickle her feathery ears like flies, their meaning finally sinks its teeth into her heart. The silver she-cat begins to shake. She trembles, an insect exposed before the paw about to crush it. " No," is the only word she can force out. The silver-and-black tom simply watches. He has become impassive. Suffering has knitted itself into his skin. A second presence draws their attention. A pale grey she-cat approaches them, her shoulders weary, her amber eyes hollow. " Who have we lost this time?" she croaks, her voice a painful rub against her throat. The silver-and-black tom bows his head. " Silverkit." The silver she-cat lets out a wail. The pale grey she-cat flinches and shakes her head. " I am sorry, Fawnswift." Fawnswift does not reply. The pain is too much. The silver-and-black tom sighs. " Take care, Dapplestar," he tells the pale grey she-cat. " Stay away from the sickness." He knows that there are only four lives left. Only four more chances before their luck is up. He turns to leave, but his entire body tenses. The muscles in his abdomen contract and in one fluid motion, like his body is a fish leaping from a river, a cough is hurled from his throat. The cough is wet and gurgling. It snatches away Fawnswift's tears and Dapplestar's voice. Realization, dark and stifling, settles over the cats. The silver-and-black tom, the medicine cat, the healer, the one they wanted to be invulnerable, closes his eyes to welcome defeat. Dapplestar looks out at the fresh-kill pile. There, among the meager amount of prey the three remaining warriors have brought back, is a hawk. Its neck is horribly rotated, wings mangled, and formidable talons dangling and useless. " How the mighty have fallen," she whispers, turning away and walking towards the camp exit. " Once, we were the disease. Now..." she pauses and looks up at the empty stars. " Now, the sickness devours us." ~ Five cats sit together on the moor, silhouetted against the yawning sky. They huddle together like hares, scared and flighty, ready to burrow back underground. They cling to the flimsy lifeline of hope, dreading the day the earth opens up to swallow them. Four surround one. A golden-brown tabby is in the middle, her stomach swollen with the hope of children. " What happened to us?" she whispers. A grey tom with one white paw reaches his tail out to twine it with hers. She looks at him, eyes full of love and heartbreak. " What happened, Rainfoot?" " Stop worrying, Flowertail," a small black tom says curtly, yellow eyes narrowed. " Take care of yourself." Flowertail turns her head to look at him. " ''Take care of yourself? ''You barely acknowledged me before all this! I'm just cargo to all of you!" " You are WindClan's hope," the black tom says curtly, refusing to look at her. Flowertail hisses and turns back to rest her head on Rainfoot's shoulder. " Don't fight," whispers a brown-and-white tom. ''Four. ''His green eyes remain fixed on the horizon. " We are all that's left. We cannot afford to..." he trails off. " Afford to what?" the black tom hisses, but the brown-and-white tom slaps his tail into his mouth. The brown-and-white tom's fear fills the air. The cats rise to their paws. They press tighter around Flowertail. " Badger!" the brown-and-white tom shrieks, seeing the silhouette against the horizon. " Run!" They do. They flee, tails streaming behind them, the remnants of what once was a proud and haughty order. Only the brown-and-white tom remains, staring at the animal whose blood his Clan once bathed themselves in. ''Badgers, bears, brethen, blood, ''he thinks for no reason at all. ''Once we conquered them all. '' ~ Deep in the marshes, blood flows like water. It turns the ground scaly and slimy like a snake's skin, coating the cats' paws, crusting in their claws and hardening around their eyes. Two tortoiseshells fight. They are carbon copies of each other, their eyes both brown, their tails both unusually short. Once, they suckled milk from the same mother. Now, they only tear at each other's faces with their claws. Around them, countless others are fighting. A black tom wails as a ginger tabby sinks her teeth into his shoulder. Two apprentices claw at each other, slipping and sliding, neither gaining the upper hand. Then, something inside the larger one snaps. He grabs the neck of the smaller one and shakes, shakes, and shakes until she moves no more. The apprentice stares at her prone body. Then he throws his head back and howls, not in pain, but in joy. " The West is coming!" he yowls. " Brightstrike is coming!" " The West!" one of the tortoiseshells cries, muzzle stained in her sister's blood. " The sun sets on Snakestar!" Briefly, the carnage pauses. Victory's light shines on their hearts, but in the marshes circling the rejoicing cats are two patrols, ready to crush Brightstrike's forces between their jaws. But, far away from the fighting, the two leaders meet. They stare. Lizard-green eyes meet lizard-green, each horrible deed passing between them as the seconds go by. They should hate each other. But they do not. The ginger-and-white she-cat sits down, lizard-eyes cold and hard. " Why did you come?" The black tom's lizard-eyes flash briefly. " Because," he drawls, moving closer. She does not draw back as he brings his nose mere hair-lengths from hers. " You wear defiance so, ''so ''well." Their cats continue to die, but they only draw closer. " Our Clan is dead," the she-cat whispers. " Do you care?" he whispers. " No," she breathes, and then begins to purr. " Let them burn." ~ Like liquid shadow, the river laps at Sunningrocks, remaning black in defiance of the moonlight. The night is as silent as death. Three cats stand at the water's edge. A pale grey, and brown-and-white, a jet-black. Brown, green, and lizard eyes. Dappled. Hare and Snake. The forgotten island looms ahead of them, dark and silent. No voice has spoken there in three years. " What happened?" Harestar whispers. " What happened to all of us?" He goes first. He wobbles, the stones are smooth and unworn after years of disuse. One-by-one, he walks across the stepping stones. Dapplestar follows, and lastly, Snakestar. Harestar leaps ashore, Dapplestar flings herself off the rocks, and Snakestar oozes to the ground like pus. The island holds its breath and waits. " They really aren't here," Harestar shakes his head. " No, no, no." Dapplestar looks around her. The silence is so, so wrong. No sound but the mocking laughter of the waves. " This isn't an island," she growls. " This is a grave." " It was only a matter of time," Snakestar hisses. " Can you not sense it? The time of the Clans is over." " Quite right, Snakestar," a reedy voice comes from the shadows. " And I never thought I would agree with you on anything." The three leaders hold their breath. From the bushes, from the island that reeks of death, emerges a cat. A tortoiseshell, with fur thin and falling, eyes milky and blurred, but a head still held proud and high. " Shellstar," Harestar cries. " Shellstar!" " You live!" Dapplestar whispers. Snakestar's voice is impassive. " RiverClan is alive?" " All these years," Harestar seems to be on the verge of tears. " All these years, and you all really were alive. What happened, Shellstar, what..." He pauses. The moonlight passes straight through her. " We are all gone," Shellstar says, and her voice trembles. " We were the first to go, but you will all be next. The Clans are over, the corrupt order of their code and their warriors is done." Harestar whimpers. " What happened to your Clan?" " What needed to happen. It will happen to all of you as well, but there is a way to make it painless. How much of you is left?" " Four," says Dapplestar. " Four," says Harestar. " Three," says Snakestar. " Not much time," Shellstar says softly. " What?" Dapplestar steps forward. " Why-" " Can you believe," Shellstar whispers. " That we are the grand finale?" The last leaders stand together under the stars and the moon. A pathogen, a remnant, a psychopath, and a ghost. II. hi